From the first nerve signal to the final movement, your muscles rely on a complex chain of events involving nerves, proteins, and energy. Actin and myosin filaments slide past each other to create ...

The contractile responses of esophageal smooth muscle (SM) induced by platelet-activating factor (PAF) involve the activation of L-type voltage-dependent calcium channels (L-type VDCCs), ...

Nearly 40% of adults fall short on this essential mineral—here’s why it matters more than you think.

A new molecular pathway has been identified that is critical for maintaining the smooth muscle tone that allows the passage of materials through the digestive system. Researchers at UMass Medical ...

Engineers interested in creating artificial cells to deliver drugs to unhealthy parts of the body face a key challenge: for a ...

Calcium is a key mineral for long-term health, yet many people fall short of their daily needs. In fact, nearly 4 in 10 Americans don’t get enough, which can raise the risk of injury and disease. That ...

IT is well established that an increase in the intracellular concentration of ionized calcium after excitation in the membrane is the key factor for initiation of contraction of various types of ...

The ability to modify the intracellular concentrations of divalent calcium ions is vital to normal cell functioning. In the cells of the cardiac muscle, calcium ions play a crucial role in coupling ...

The sarcomere is the most basic contractile unit in skeletal and cardiac muscle. Mutations in genes encoding sarcomeric proteins give rise to heritable myopathies, although muscle function is more ...